Pizza party this Wednesday

The September pizza party for the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog will happen this coming Wednesday, September 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Gracie See Pizzeria (6889 Greenfield Rd.) As always, the first pizza is on me.

After that, we simply order from the menu and split the check when it arrives.

Everyone is welcome to join us.

Kristen Renton in Warrendale

I posted last week that Kristen Renton, who plays Ima on Sons of Anarchy, would be making a special appearance at the Toy Chest Bar (18728 Ford Rd.). The bar, of course, is at the southern end of Detroit's Warrendale neighborhood.

My original post about Kristen Renton's special appearance is available here. She was in town to celebrate her birthday Detroit-style.

I was able to go and had a chance to meet her. I have to say I was impressed with how warm and approachable Kristen Renton was.




I had a great time celebrating Kristen Renton's birthday with her. I'll keep my fingers crossed that she comes back to Detroit some time soon.

Update @ 7:44 p.m.
In addition to the photo that I posted above, the crew at the Toy Chest Bar posted a total of 66 photos from Kristen Renton's visit to their establishment on their Facebook page. Those photos are available here.

Kristen Renton comes to Warrendale

Kristen Renton - Photo by Jeff Xander

Hollywood will come to Detroit's Warrendale neighborhood this Saturday when Kristen Renton, who is best known for playing Ima on FX's Sons of Anarchy, makes a special appearance at the Toy Chest Bar (18728 Ford Rd.). She will be there this Saturday to sign autographs, pose for photos with her fans, and celebrate her birthday.

While Kristen Renton is perhaps best known for playing Ima on Sons of Anarchy as well as Morgan Hollingswoth on Days of Our Lives, she has a total of 21 acting credits to her name. She has also appeared on CSI: Miami, The Andy Dick Show, and several other television shows as well as in four different motion pictures.

In addition her acting and volunteer work, according to her biography, Kristen Renton is enrolled in Pennsylvania State University where she is majoring in psychology and maintains a 4.0 grade point average. Penn State, by the way, is also her parents' alma mater.

I look forward to seeing Kristen Renton at the Toy Chest Bar tomorrow night. It should be another fun night in the neighborhood.

Duggan endorses Santana for state house

Mayor Mike Duggan endorsed incumbent State Representative Harvey Santana in his final re-election bid for the 9th District of Michigan House of Representatives. The primary election for this race is this coming Tuesday. Santana is opposed by newcomer Hussein Barry who is apparently basing his entire campaign on attacking without mentioning what he would do differently.

During his tenure this far, Santana has worked to address issues such as abandoned homes, squatters, and blight. He was also pivotal in getting a $330,000 allocation for Brennan Pools in Rouge Park as well as restoring funding for Detroit's Hutzel Women's Hospital.

If re-elected, this will be Santana's third term in the Michigan House of Representatives. He will not be eligible for forth term in that office due to term limits.

Detroit can be surreal

Detroit can be rather surreal at times. For example, I was at Tony V's Tavern in Midtown yesterday evening (photo of the place from my Instagram account is above). I spent some time reliving one of my more embarrassing moments with a couple of people that I haven't seen in years and then planned a series of fashion videos with one of those individuals.

And then I came home to Warrendale where I had to chase a neighbor's chickens out of my driveway so I could park my car.

The contrast between those two moments - within an hour and 10 miles of each other - just strikes me as surreal.

LED Streetlights coming to the Warrendale neighborhood

Contractors installing light poles - Photo by Frank Nemecek

Contractors from Detroit's Public Lighting Authority have been busy lately installing removing old streetlights and installing new ones. Their first step is to install a new pole for the lights.

Once that pole has had a chance to settle in the ground for a few days, they will install a new LED streetlight onto it.

Open Letter to Jim Diamond (and everyone else downtown)

Downtown and Midtown Detroit are becoming expensive. They are becoming so expensive, in fact that Jim Diamond of Ghetto Recorders can no longer afford to operate there and is considering a move to the suburbs.

An article about this fact, by the way, is available from The Detroit News here.

That's a little sad because he is one of the creative pioneers who helped to make the rebirth of downtown possible.

However, if Jim Diamond or anyone else is interested, I can show them a bunch of really cool spaces in Detroit's Warrendale neighborhood on the far west side that would be a great spot for you.

Plus, you'll be closer to Gracie See Pizzeria, named the best traditional pizza in North America at the International Pizza Expo, as well as Tijuana's Mexican Kitchen, which is one of the best Mexican restaurants in town. You'll also be closer to some shawarma that makes the stuff served downtown seem like left-over Chef Boyardee.

And when you need to burn off all of those calories, you'll also be closer to the largest park in Detroit - one that's bigger than Belle Isle, Campus Martius, Grand Circus, and Hart Plaza combined.